Welcome to The Bookies' Latest Update!                               May 2016 issue 1
The Bookies Newsletter
Stuffies
A Story...

One cold, wet Sunday, The Bookies' stuffies were restless in their basket. Polar Bear was poking Gorilla in the side, Plaid Bear was lassoing Little Kitten with his tie and all the puppies were yipping and squabbling. There was nothing the  Bookies staff could do to calm down the rambunctious stuffies - until Jayne came along. "Hey, how about we settle down and read a good book together?" she said. And that was exactly what they did. And, once again, peace reigned in The Bookies. (Although, as you can see, we did have to keep Polar Bear and Gorilla apart.)

What better way to spend this unpredictable spring than by reading a good book? With so many sports and outdoor activities canceled, there's no quicker way to calm down stir-crazy kids (and parents). So the topic of this newsletter is simple - books, books, and more books!
The Night Gardener
By Terry Fan, Eric Fan
Simon & Schuster, $17.99
A stunning debut picture book, filled with whimsy and creativity from brothers Terry and Eric Fan. William discovers that the tree outside his window has been sculpted into an owl and in the following days, more topiaries appear, each one more beautiful than the last. Soon, William's gray little town is full of color and is changed forever.

Peddles
Peddles
By Elizabeth Rose Stanton
Simon & Schuster, $17.99
Peddles is tired of being the same old piggish pig. He wants to stand, climb, and dance! He finally gets his chance when he finds a pair of red boots that fits just right. But he needs his special friends to show him how to make his dreams come true. Quirky, clever and heartwarming!

Snappsy the Alligator
Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask To Be In This Book)
By Julie Falatko, Tim Miller
Viking, $16.99
Snappsy the alligator is having a normal day when a pesky narrator steps in to spice up the story. Is Snappsy reading a book ... or is he making CRAFTY plans? An irreverent look at storytelling, friendship, and creative differences, perfect for fans of Mo Willems.


You Made Me a Mother
You Made Me a Mother
By Laurenne Sala, Robin Preiss Glasser
HarperCollins, $15.99
A beautiful celebration of motherhood and unconditional love. The heartwarming text and charming illustrations reflect the powerful bond between mother and child from pregnancy to birth and beyond: "I felt you. You were a pea. Then a lemon. Then an eggplant."


Five for Kids
Eric Lupe
Scholastic, $4.99
Ages 7-10
Cleo and Evan find a magic library underneath their school, and a note from their teacher, who is trapped between the covers of a book. They go into the story to find the key that will release her. They must solve the mystery in the book and find the right key--or they could be trapped in the book forever...


Demon Dentist
Demon Dentist
By David Walliams, Tony Ross (Illustrator)
HarperCollins, $16.99
Ages 8-12
Darkness has come to town. Children who put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy wake up to find . . . a dead slug, a live spider, hundreds of earwigs creeping and crawling beneath their pillow. Evil is at work. But who, or what, is behind it? Fun horror!



Paris_ up_ up and Away_
Paris, Up, Up and Away
By Helene Druvert
Thomas Hudson, $24.95
Ages 4-7
The Eiffel Tower is bored so it decides to cut loose and fly over Paris. Sailing through the night air, it glides over the Seine; a short hop away, it finds the Opera, and more. This beautifully crafted book, brought to intricate life by Helene Druvert's ornate laser cuts, is a wonderfully imaginative introduction to Paris and its monuments.


Ollie_s Odyssey
Ollie's Odyssey
By William Joyce
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, $17.99
Ages 7-11
A grand adventure of valor and friendship. Made by hand by Billy's mother, Ollie is a special toy, a toy who becomes Billy's best friend. But there are villains in Toy World, and Zozo, the clown king, is the most feared. When Ollie is toynapped, Billy must rescue his beloved favorite from Zozo's subterranean lair in the old Carnival Place, past the park, through the woods, and into the night. Never has a journey of ten blocks been more epic.

Completely Clementine
Completely Clementine
By Sara Pennypacker, Marla Frazee (Illustrator)
Disney-Hyperion, $5.99
Ages 8-12
Now in paperback! Summer is coming, and Clementine is not ready. Especially to say good-bye to her third grade teacher. She knows Mr. D'Matz is going to tell her all kinds of things that aren't true. Everything else may be changing around her, but that doesn't mean that Clementine has. But which is worse, saying good-bye, or "not" saying good-bye?

Five for Middle Grade
Maybe a Fox
Maybe a Fox
By Kathi Appelt, Alison McGhee
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books,
Ages 10-14
$16.99
When her sister, Sylvie, disappears, Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe that, like their mother, her sister is gone forever. At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She's too young to know exactly what she senses, but she knows something is very wrong - and then, the human and shadow worlds collide. A beautiful tale of heartbreak and hope.

Summerlost
Summerlost
By Ally Condie
Dutton Books, $17.00
Ages 10 and up
It's the first real summer since the accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother. Cedar finds a job working at the Summerlost theater festival and a new friend called Leo - but she also finds a mystery in the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the festival. And then there's the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.


Saving Wonder
By Mary Knight
Ages 8-12
Curley Hines lives with his grandfather in the Appalachian Mountains of Wonder Gap, Kentucky. When a new coal boss takes over the local mining company, life as Curley knows it is turned upside down. Can Curley speak out against Big Coal and save his mountain? A rich, lyrical, and utterly transporting tale about friendship, the power of words, and the difficult hurdles we must overcome for the people and places we love.

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook
By Leslie Connor
Katherine Tegen, $16.99
Ages 8-12
A soaring and heartfelt story about love, forgiveness, and how innocence makes us all rise up. Eleven-year-old Perry is raised by his mom at the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility, until a new district attorney discovers him and Perry is forced into a foster home. Desperate to be reunited with his mom, Perry goes on a quest for answers about her past crime. As he gets closer to the truth, he will discover that love makes people resilient no matter where they come from, but can he find a way to tell everyone what home truly means?

Pax
Pax
By Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen (Illustrator)
Balzer & Bray/Harperteen, $16.99
Ages 8-12
A beautifully wrought, utterly compelling novel about the powerful relationship between a boy and his fox. Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit. But when Peter's dad enlists in the military he makes Peter return the fox to the wild. Peter strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox.


Five for Teens
Passenger
Passenger
By Alexandra Bracken
Disney-Hyperion, $17.99
Brought together from different times by a dangerous stranger with unusual powers, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues the stranger has left behind. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta, not only from Nicholas, but from her path home.

Stray
Stray
By Elissa Sussman
Greenwillow Books, $9.99
An epic original fairy tale that tells the story of Aislynn, a princess who misbehaves and must give up her royal trappings and enter a life of service as a fairy godmother. Part coming-of-age story, part adventure, part sweet romance.
By Siobhan Vivian
Simon & Schuster, $17.99
As the small town of Aberdeen floods, residents prepare to evacuate. Keely and her friends spend what could be their last days together partying - and Keeley plans on taking one last shot at the boy she's loved forever before they are parted. But it's not always clear what's worth fighting for and what you should let become a memory. Vivid and heartfelt.

Glass Sword
Glass Sword
By Victoria Aveyard
HarperTeen, $19.99
The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they've always known and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.



Into the Dim
Into the Dim
By Janet Taylor
HMH, $17.99
When sixteen-year-old Hope's mother dies overseas, she is sent to Scotland, where she discovers that her mother was a member of a secret society of time travelers. And she's "alive," though trapped in the twelfth century, during the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to her own time. Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail.


Five for Adults
The Little Red Chairs
The Little Red Chairs
By Edna O'Brien
Little Brown and Company, $27.00
Edna O'Brien's first novel for over ten years! One night, in the dead of winter, a mysterious stranger arrives in the small Irish town of Cloonoila. At first embraced by the town, Dr. Vlad is later revealed to be a war criminal and mass murderer. The community is devastated, no one more than his married lover, Fidelma. In disgrace and alone, she embarks on a journey that will bring profound hardship and, ultimately, the prospect of redemption. A vivid and unflinching exploration of humanity's capacity for evil and artifice as well as the bravest kind of love.

Ways to Disappear
Ways to Disappear
By Idra Novey
Little Brown and Company, $25.00
An inventive, brilliant debut about the disappearance of a famous Brazilian novelist and the young American translator who turns her life upside down to follow her trail. A novel of ideas and intrigue, an innovative combination of mystery, noir, and humor.



As Close to Us as Breathing
As Close to Us as Breathing
By Elizabeth Poliner
Lee Boudreaux Books, $27.00
In 1948, Jewish sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec assemble at their beloved family cottage in Connecticut, with children in tow. But when a terrible accident occurs, a summer of hope and self-discovery transforms into a lifetime of atonement and loss. Seen through the eyes of Molly, a witness to the accident at 12, this is the story of a tragedy and its aftermath, of expanding lives painfully collapsed. Can Molly, decades after the event, free herself from the burden that has destroyed so many others?

When Breath Becomes Air
When Breath Becomes Air
By Paul Kalanithi
Random House, $25.00
Already a classic, this poignant memoir chronicles a young doctor's journey from promising neurosurgeon to a patient in his own hospital after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Always profound, never sentimental, this book faces mortality with honesty and humility. Written in engaging prose and filled with penetrating insights, this story is relevant to everyone and will captivate fans of memoir, literature, philosophy, and popular science alike. To learn more, take a look at this very moving interview.

Britt-Marie Was Here
Britt-Marie Was Here
By Fredrik Backman
Atria Books, $26.00
From the bestselling author of A Man Called Ove; an irresistible novel about finding love and second chances in the most unlikely of places. When Britt-Marie is forced to take a job as the caretaker of a run-down recreation center, it seems like a disastrous post for a socially awkward, fussy busybody. How will she cope? This book celebrates the unexpected friendships that change us forever, and the power of even the gentlest of spirits to make the world a better place.

And one more for adults, just because... Now in paperback!
The Girl from the Paradise Ballroom
The Girl from the Paradise Ballroom
By Alison Love
Broadway Books, $16.00
The love story of a struggling Italian singer, Antonio, and the wife of his wealthy new patron - who Antonio recognizes as the woman
he first met and was attracted to at the seedy Paradise Ballroom. It's the dawn of WWII, and the last thing Olivia wants is for her past to come out - but her attraction to Antonio could be her undoing. A story of forbidden love and family loyalties amid the most devastating war in human history.

All these books are in stock at the time of writing, but if they happen to be out of stock when you come in, please ask us to order them for you!  For more suggestions see our blog.
Something a Little Different
A Boy Named Penguin
Aaron LaPedis, local author of The Garage Sale Millionaire, dropped into the store recently with his new book - and it couldn't be more different. A Boy Named Penguin is a story about a boy with autism and how he copes with the outside world - by becoming a penguin superhero. This entertaining picture book about empowerment and acceptance is vividly illustrated by Scott Johnson and is based on the true story of Aaron's son. A portion of the profits will go to the Autism Society.

It was with happy tears that we bade farewell to a Bookies
friend - the huge hippo from our center display went off to join a little girl named Ruby for her first birthday. He was accompanied by a book about a special hippo friendship, Owen and Mzee, and we are sure he will think of us every time Ruby reads it. But hippo fans, rejoice, we had his twin in the back of the store, so we still have a hippo to take care of while he waits for his forever home. Could he be waiting for you?

Harry Potter
Last, but absolutely not least, there's a special treat in store for Harry Potter fans, when the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is released on July 31st. Please note that this is a script, rather than a novel (we would hate to disappoint anyone). However, it's a must-have for Harry Potter collectors and is based on a short story by J.K. Rowling. The script itself is the work of Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, and it will be the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage when it opens in London's West End on July 30th, 2016. The adult Harry is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son, Albus, struggles with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.The full title is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts I & II (Special Rehearsal Edition): The Official Script Book of the Original West End Production (Hardcover). We're taking pre-orders now - call us on 303-759-1117 to make sure you get your copy!
Sue Lubeck